“Ultimately, it may have been the company’s music director, James Conlon, who was most necessary in making sure there would be the kind of music that needed trusting. He moved things along quickly, surely and suavely.” —Los Angeles Times

“Overall, then, a fine ensemble cast with no overwhelmingly charismatic personalities, allied compatibly with Conlon’s loving treatment of the score. As in 2015, Conlon’s conducting flowed genially, setting the table with a comfortably-paced Overture, rolling along in Act I with a gentle yet irresistible rhythm, exploring the lyrical content underneath the comedy while turbocharging the final measures of Acts II and IV.” —Musical America

“Keeping the engine tuned and on track was James Conlon, LAO’s superb music director. Delivering clarity, steadiness, and oomph from the pit, with harpsichordist Kevin Murphy showcased as well, Conlon also knew when to take a breath, infusing the score with hyperacuity. He and the orchestra provided the perfect accompaniment to the opera he called in his program note a battle of the sexes, with “the women, more evolved, bring[ing] sense and humanity into the world of prerevolutionary France.” —San Francisco Classical Voice

“James Conlon, our music director and conductor, marched into the pit and proceeded to literally whip through the famous overture. I’m happy to say that precision was never sacrificed for the sake of some astonishingly fleet playing from the LA Opera Orchestra and the musical standard was kept very high all night long.” —Parterre

“From the moment James Conlon lifts his baton and LA Opera Orchestra lets loose with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s peerless score, listeners are in for an almost four-hour treat as the James Gray-directed The Marriage of Figaro unspools onstage.” —Hollywood Progressive